NEW DELHI: BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya on Wednesday alleged that Congress leader Sonia Gandhi was registered as a voter in India even before she became an Indian citizen.
His remarks came after the Congress criticised alleged irregularities in the voters’ list and opposed the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
“Sonia Gandhi’s tryst with India’s voters’ list is riddled with glaring violations of electoral law. This perhaps explains Rahul Gandhi’s fondness for regularising ineligible and illegal voters, and his opposition to the SIR, ” Malviya claimed in a post on X.
According to Malviya, Sonia Gandhi’s name first appeared on the electoral rolls in 1980 -- three years before she obtained Indian citizenship, when she still held Italian citizenship. At the time, the Gandhi family lived at 1, Safdarjung Road, the official residence of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Until then, the voters registered at that address were Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi.
He said the electoral rolls for the New Delhi parliamentary constituency were revised with January 1, 1980, as the qualifying date. During this revision, Sonia Gandhi’s name was added at serial number 388 in polling station 145.
“This entry was a clear violation of the law, which mandates Indian citizenship for voter registration, ” Malviya alleged.
Following an outcry in 1982, her name was deleted, but it reappeared in 1983.